RUSSIAN BOOK REVIEWS.

Lisa Hayden Espenschade has provided a very useful resource at her blog Lizok’s Bookshelf: a list of a couple of dozen Russian-language sources of book reviews, including both individual bloggers and institutional sites. The second one on the list, В топку.ру (“Into the fire”), provides scathingly negative reviews of books that have often been critically praised, like Alexei Ivanov’s Золото бунта and Vladimir Sorokin’s День опричника; the first was favorably reviewed by the esteemed slawkenbergius, so I suspect the топку.ру reviewer of excessive bile, but I don’t really care, since the trashing is so enjoyable to read. (Apparently that site is exclusively for pans; the normal book discussions are at ChitClub.ru.)

Having read the rant about День опричника, I have to ask: is it common for Russian amateur reviewers to throw the dictionary at the author? I’ve seen a few examples in Russian, but none on English-language sites where amateur reviews are posted. Is this a reflection of Russian linguistic hyper-vigilance, like класть/ложить?

too funny and angry, that’s why i feel i can’t read that, contemporary Russian lit, written after the perestroika anyway
whenever i start reading something from them i end up losing interest after a few pages, ili kak korobit
just the critic himself it seems like greatly enjoys reading and ridiculing those books too
i wonder what he really likes reading from nowadays Russians, i would read what he’d recommend

And you can support my book habit without even spending money on me by following my Amazon links to do your shopping (if, of course, you like shopping on Amazon); I get a small percentage of every dollar spent while someone is following my referral links, and every month I get a gift certificate that allows me to buy a few books (or, if someone has bought a big-ticket item, even more). You will not only get your purchases, you will get my blessings and a karmic boost!

Favorite rave review, by Teju Cole:
"Evidence that the internet is not as idiotic as it often looks. This site is called Language Hat and it deals with many issues of a linguistic flavor. It's a beacon of attentiveness and crisp thinking, and an excellent substitute for the daily news."

From "commonbeauty"

(Cole's blog circa 2003)

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